ok, for starters, i don't have the benefit of being able to say the usual velvets speel of "the influence on modern music is.../ how unique they were at their time is....etc etc". i'm twenty, they split up a million years before i was born, i don't care how influentual they were/are/will be.
i have heard the VU on their various albums, and thought...hmm, interesting, why didn't they write more songs like venus in furs, why does sister ray drag on so much, this is meant to be a classic. so i don't really know why i pisked this 3 cd box set up. ah yes, pay day, i can take it back if i don't like it, something like that.
anyway, i'm wittering. this is great. its got crappy sound quality, which in these days of post lo-fi, is good. its got an evil vesion of venus in furs, which lurches at you like a drunk telling you about the S&M party he went to last night. we get humour splashed all over the place (whistling on im waiting for the man, crowd interaction on sister ray) we get some moments which could almost be twee (mo tucker's fragile and quiet takes on after hours and im sticking with you) and three versions of sister ray that make me like the blessed thing, dammit. it seems that live, they had to be far groovier, especially if they're gonna play songs that go on for 40 minutes (sister ray again), and i can imagine my parents, if they ever were hip, swaying away to some of the songs on this. the sound quality does leave a little lacking (black angels death song becomes muddy mumbling where it should be punching holes in yr head) but on the whole, its well worth investing in, if you got money burning in yr pocket, though maybe not for those with no previous velvets purchases..
so yeah. buy!
